Hangman words
Hangman Words for Kids
Concrete, picture-able words for K to grade 3 hangman, from cat and hat to rabbit and teacher. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.
Read the word list
The words on this page are things a child can see, name or hold: animals, foods, objects in a house or a classroom. Each one is between three and eight letters, and all are words most kindergarten through third grade children already say out loud. That means a stuck player can usually be helped with a picture clue or an actual object, rather than a definition.
Difficulty is mixed on purpose. Short words such as bed and hat look easy but can take several wrong guesses, because many three-letter words fit the pattern. Longer words such as banana, pencil and teacher give a young player more letters to find, and they are often solved faster. Teachers can use that fact to build confidence: start with a longer, familiar word, and let the quick win lead into the short ones.
62 entries. Our solver needed 4.9 wrong guesses on average: 8 easy, 23 medium and 31 hard. The toughest is book (13 misses), the quickest table (0).
- cat Hard · 7
- dog Hard · 10
- sun Hard · 6
- hat Medium · 4
- bed Hard · 9
- fish Hard · 5
- bird Hard · 8
- frog Hard · 6
- duck Hard · 9
- cake Hard · 10
- milk Hard · 7
- bread Medium · 2
- apple Medium · 3
- pizza Hard · 6
- truck Hard · 6
- train Medium · 2
- house Medium · 4
- door Hard · 5
- chair Medium · 3
- table Easy · 0
- book Hard · 13
- pencil Medium · 2
- desk Medium · 3
- bus Hard · 6
- tree Easy · 1
- flower Medium · 2
- rain Medium · 2
- snow Hard · 5
- cloud Hard · 6
- moon Medium · 4
- star Easy · 1
- horse Medium · 2
- sheep Easy · 1
- cow Hard · 10
- pig Hard · 10
- bear Hard · 10
- lion Medium · 3
- tiger Hard · 6
- zebra Medium · 2
- mouse Hard · 5
- rabbit Medium · 3
- banana Easy · 1
- orange Easy · 1
- cookie Medium · 3
- spoon Medium · 2
- bag Hard · 13
- shoe Medium · 2
- sock Hard · 6
- ball Hard · 10
- kite Hard · 9
- drum Hard · 5
- boat Hard · 8
- car Hard · 7
- robot Medium · 2
- clock Medium · 4
- lamp Hard · 6
- window Medium · 2
- garden Easy · 1
- teacher Easy · 0
- school Medium · 3
- paper Hard · 5
- crayon Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- catThree letters, and the first word many children learn to read. Short words like this are among the harder ones for the solver.
- bananaThree a's and two n's in six letters. A guess of a fills half the word.
- rabbitDouble b is a clue. The word is spelled the way it is said, which many early spellers find easy.
- pencilThe c is soft here and sounds like s. A good word to discuss after the round.
- teacherContains the ea pairing that makes a long e sound, as in cream and beach.
- crayonMany children spell it cray-on. The word is short enough for a quick round.
- windowA word with two syllables and a double-consonant pattern between the n and d. Easy to picture.
How to use this list
Run this as a small-group or whole-class game. Draw the blanks on the board and ask students to call letters. Let them pick the next word from a picture card, so the whole round is anchored in something they can see.
At home, play at the kitchen table with a pencil and paper. Choose words that match the room: spoon, bread and milk at breakfast. After the word is solved, ask the child to spell it again from memory with the letters covered. That is a quick spelling check without any worksheet.
Print a Hangman Words for Kids worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Easy Hangman WordsEasy hangman words that guessers solve in a guess or two: common five to eight letter words with frequent letters. Play online or print the list.
- Animals Hangman WordsHangman words for animals from around the world, from lions and zebras to platypus and armadillo. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.
- School Hangman WordsSchool hangman words from the classroom, hallway and playground: supplies, places, people and routines, for kindergarten through middle school.
- 3 Letter Hangman WordsThree-letter hangman words ranked by difficulty, from lab and jet to bin and zip. Short words fit many patterns, so they cost the most guesses.
- Food Hangman WordsFood hangman words from bread and cheese to spaghetti and guacamole, with phrases for longer rounds. Play online or print with an answer key.
- Hangman SentencesComplete short sentences for hangman, five to nine words each, written for classrooms and English learners. Play online or print an answer key.